Lake Forest Mayor Scott Voigts is the subject of a recall petition. The notices say the mayor and two councilmen used a voting bloc on the council and approved developments brought forward by political contributors, allegations the councilmen deny.

Dwight Robinson wins his bid for the Lake Forest City Council. Recall notices say the councilmen used a voting bloc on the council and approved developments brought forward by political contributors, allegations the councilmen deny.

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Lake Forest Councilman Andrew Hamilton is subject of a recall petition. The notices say the councilmen used a voting bloc on the council and approved developments brought forward by political contributors, allegations the councilmen deny.

The notices say the councilmen used a voting bloc on the council and approved developments brought forward by political contributors, allegations the councilmen deny.

Specifically, Basile said she was referring to a 2014 Meritage Homes contribution of $10,000 to Laguna Niguel-based political action committee Restore California, which had spent $16,609 on behalf of candidates Scott Voigts, Dave Bass and Andrew Hamilton, according to campaign finance records.

Also, in the 2012 election, developers Brookfield Homes and Trumark Co. gave at least $75,000 to groups that supported Robinson and Councilman Adam Nick, then council candidates. Robinson’s campaign also received money directly from the developers, as did Voigts’.

Nick and Robinson voted with Voigts in 2013 to approve the developers’ residential projects at Auto Center Drive. Nick isn’t named in the recall effort.

Basile said what ultimately prompted the recall was the construction of new medians on Saddleback Ranch Road, which is one of the main corridors in and out of the Portola Hills community. She said the medians are too wide, creating a public safety hazard, and that the three council members named in the recall put the developers’ priorities over those of the community.

Voigts, Robinson and Hamilton said the accusations are baseless.

“I call these frivolous allegations,” Voigts said. “People give us contributions because they believe in the form of government that we support. My first and utmost duty is to the people of Lake Forest. No amount of money, and no friendship, is going to supersede my loyalty and commitment to the people of Lake Forest.”

Robinson said that he doesn’t approve contracts that weren’t recommended by the staff or in some way the lowest bid contract.

“Some contractors have donated to some of our campaigns and others haven’t,” Robinson said, “That’s had no bearing on the decisions I have made, and for her to make those accusation like that is borderline libelous.”

“I am really saddened,” Voigts said Friday. “They’re trying to recall someone based on policy differences; recalls are supposed to be for extreme times. For a city or municipality to put on a recall is huge.”

Robinson said according to surveys, the city’s government has a 95 percent approval rating from residents.

“It doesn’t mean everybody is happy with every decision we make, but on the whole, people are happy,” he said.

Thirty-one residents signed the notices of intent for Hamilton and Robinson; 30 signed Voigts’. To initiate a recall petition, 20 valid registered voters must sign the notice of intent.

According to California Elections code, once the petitions are approved by the city clerk, proponents will have 120 days to obtain the verified signatures of at least 20 percent of the city’s 39,408 registered voters – 7,882 names for each petition. If the petition is successful, the recall election must take place 88 days to 125 days later.

Should an election be scheduled, the city would also accept nominations for candidates to replace specific council members in the event they are recalled. According to city staff, a recall election would cost the city about $160,000 to $250,000.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.